ECL returns with heavyweight battle

Date: February 12 2013

Barry Whelan

Cristiano Ronaldo faces his old team, Manchester United, for the first time since his departure for Real Madrid as the Champions League resumes on Tuesday and Wednesday with a meeting of European heavyweights.

The Real Madrid-Manchester United tie on Wednesday is the pick of the last-16 first-leg matches, also have German champions Borussia Dortmund at Shakhtar Donetsk the same evening.

On Tuesday, Italian champions Juventus play at Celtic, while Spain's Valencia meet French side Paris St Germain.

The remaining eight teams in the round will be in action the following week, with Porto v Malaga, Arsenal v Bayern, AC Milan v Barcelona, and Galatasaray v Schalke.

The clash between Real and United is undoubtedly the pick as the match also renews old rivalry between Jose Mourinho and Sir Alex Ferguson on the coaching benches.

Real's Mourinho was at Old Trafford to see United's win over Everton at the weekend and Ferguson said he had caught up with the former Chelsea manager.

"I had a chat with Jose before the game, he was in good form," Ferguson said. "We're both looking forward to the game on Wednesday.

It'll be terrific."

Real and United have met in four previous European Cup or Champions League ties - with the winners going on to lift the trophy on three occasions.

Ronaldo left United for Real in 2009 for a world record fee of 96 million euros ($A125 million) and has since scored 136 goals in 123 games for the whites, guiding them to La Liga last season and the Spanish cup in 2011.

On Saturday the Portuguese striker warmed up for his former team-mates with a handsome hat-trick in the 4-1 trouncing of Sevilla.

"The Champions League is a very special competition for me. I want to help Real win it for the 10th time," he said.

Real defenders Pepe and Marcelo are finally fit again, so Mourinho will have to decide whether to leave them on the bench.

Ferguson will test the fitness of Phil Jones, who can play in defence or midfield, before deciding his final line-up.

Juventus travel to Glasgow with Ghanaian midfielder Kwadwo Asamoah back from the Africa Cup of Nations, but have lost Paolo De Ceglie to a muscular injury as international defender Giorgio Chiellini remains sidelined.

Juve's international playmaker Andrea Pirlo won the continental title while at AC Milan in 2003 and 2007 and recalled meeting Celtic in the group phase of the 2007-2008 tournament, losing 2-1 in Glasgow and winning 1-0 in Italy.

"I'm sure the noise from the Celtic fans will be crazy, but that will only make us more determined to go into battle," Pirlo told The Daily Record.

Dortmund, regarded as many as dark horses for the European title after topping group D undefeated ahead of Real Madrid, Ajax and Manchester City, have to recover from the setback of a 4-1 home defeat to SV Hamburg for their trip to Donetsk.